All LLNE Members are invited to this fun social event! We have partnered with the Dallas Association of Law Libraries (DALL) for an evening of trivia to be held over Zoom. Mark your calendar, and we hope to see you there!
Trivia Duel
Blog
LLNE Fall 2022 Wrap-Up
Hi Everyone,
LLNE leadership hopes that everyone’s fall semester is wrapping up nicely and that you’re entering winter and the holiday season healthy. LLNE has had a wonderful fall with lots of things happening that we wanted to update you about.
The new Executive Board had its first meeting at the end of September, right before we held the Fall Conference in New Bedford. The Bylaws Committee finished their work updating our Bylaws and those changes have been sent to AALL for approval. Additionally the Statement of Ethical Principles was approved by the membership by 84.4%. President Anna Lawless-Collins has placed a call for volunteers to join an ad hoc committee to help put those ethical principles into practice. If you are interested in joining that committee please contact Anna to let her know.
On October 7th, LLNE gathered for its fall conference “Chasing the Law of Whaling into the 21st Century” in New Bedford at the Waypoint Event Center, with a trip to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Attendees had the privilege of hearing from Mark Procknik, the Museum’s Research Librarian; Professor K. Bercaw Edwards from the University of Connecticut; and, Professor Charles H. Norchi from University of Maine Law about the history of whaling in New Bedford, MA and learning about maritime legal research. In the afternoon, attendees has the opportunity to check out the New Bedford Whaling Museum and to hear more from Librarian Mark Procknik. Mark pulled some historical documents for attendees to look over and he gave another short presentation about some of the materials brought out.
Coming up in January, Executive Board members will be gathering for its annual winter retreat where members will be working on strategic planning for LLNE. Additionally, the spring LLNE meeting has been planned for April 14, 2023, hosted by The Law Library at New England Law and The Association of Boston Law Librarians (ABLL) and will focus on “A NextGen Curriculum for a NextGen Bar”. Mark your calendars to join us!
Tech Committee Update – All About Jotform
So you’ve been dying to learn all about how we create the forms we use for events and things like that. Or maybe you’re not, but I’m going to tell you anyway. And it would help to have some instructions somewhere.
Say there’s a meeting coming up and we need a form stat! Fortunately, I don’t need to create a whole new form. I can copy a form from an earlier meeting and reuse the content. We use Jotform for our meeting registrations, and that’s pretty easy to use.
To make the changes, I’ll need the following info from the event organizers:
- Name of meeting
- Co-sponsor
- Price
- Questions for attendees (lunch, dine-arounds, etc.)
Update from the Service Committee
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.” – Herman Melville
The Service Committee has been busy connecting LLNE/ABLL members with opportunities to help others. For the Fall 2022 Service Project, we solicited monetary support for the Whaling Museum and we sponsored a book drive to support Wash & Read, an initiative of United Way of Greater New Bedford’s Women United, which distributes books to local laundromats. Donations to the Whaling Museum helped the museum provide free programming, such as AHA! NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM. We had great participation in the book drive, with members donating 36 books. We received a lovely thank you card from Paula Montgomery, Women United Director.
Our next service opportunity is in conjunction with the upcoming Virtual Trivia Night in January. One reason that we are sponsoring Action For Boston Community Development is because LLNE/ABLL members can choose to support a specific program, such as fuel assistance, food pantries & programs, winter fund, or have their donation applied where it is most needed. More details to follow soon.
Looking ahead to the Spring Service Project, we want to focus on a service activity that members can participate in. John, Stephanie, and I would love to have some company on the Service Committee! If you have some ideas or just love helping others (and what librarian doesn’t?) consider joining our awesome committee.
Government Relations Committee Update
On September 30, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order providing for reestablishment of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH). The Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) will co-lead the reinstituted PCAH and will provide advice to the President on policy goals, charitable and private sector engagement and other matters to improve federal support and funding for library and museum services, the arts, and the humanities. “This joint initiative acknowledges the essential role of . . . library services in our society and democracy including civic life, economic opportunity and development, health and wellness, education, equity, climate, and social cohesion. In the spirit of the order, IMLS will be developing partnerships with other federal agencies to advance opportunities to utilize the arts, humanities, museums, and libraries to connect communities across the country with important information and resources.” More information can be found at: President Biden Issues Executive Order Reestablishing President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH); IMLS Director to Co-Lead Committee (Oct. 3, 2022)
The UELMA in Massachusetts Subcommittee continues to advocate for passage of this legislation, and thanks all Massachusetts LLNE members who reached out to their legislators this past year to request support H.1597 – An Act Relative to the Uniform Electronic Material Act. At latest report, H.1597 accompanied a study order from the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, and was referred to the Committee on Joint Rules. If you are interested in working with us on UELMA advocacy, please let us know.
There is little to report at this point in the legislative sessions of our New England states, and we are continuing to monitor developments of interest to concerned law librarians. If you become aware of legislative or policy developments of interest to law librarians, please contact Catherine or Emilie, GRC Co-chairs, who monitor Massachusetts and Rhode Island respectively, or your GRC state representatives/committee members: Mary Tartaglia in Connecticut; Maureen Quinlan in Maine; Sue Zago in New Hampshire; and Jane Woldow in Vermont. We will report any relevant information to the membership.
Regular updates from the GRC and discussion posts appear on the AALL Advocates community list (it’s easy to sign up for the list if you’re not already receiving the emails. Just click on “Participate” at the top of the page, select “AALL Advocates” and click “Join”).
Best,
Catherine Biondo and Emilie Benoit, LLNE GRC Co-Chairs
Featured LLNE Library: Maine State Law & Legislative Reference Library
When Jennifer Locke started her job at the Maine State Law & Legislative Reference Library (LLRL), there wasn’t a single computer. Smoking indoors was normal, and one of the most contentious issues of the 112th Legislature was prohibiting it in public and in the workplace. Opponents of nuclear power, who had been trying for years to close the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, finally passed a referendum to restrict disposal of radioactive waste. When Jennifer started here, the legislative history of either issue would’ve been delivered on a book truck. Today, the legislative history of both can be found in our digital repository, along with all Maine laws, legislation, chamber records, and statutes published since 1820.
Jennifer is our library’s longest serving librarian, and a treasure of institutional history. But her story in the Maine State House doesn’t begin in the library. As the daughter of a 4-term legislator, she remembers napping on the sofa in the House Speaker’s office and eating snacks with her brother and sister in the legislators retiring room. Jennifer started as a part-time circulation assistant in February 1985 and was eventually hired full-time as our government documents librarian (a position she still holds). In 1985, LLRL was a relatively new institution. Established by statute in 1971 as a nonpartisan office of the Maine Legislature, we had been part of the Maine State Library for 132 years. Our mandate is to provide “a comprehensive reference service on legislative problems for all members of the Legislature and its committees, equally and impartially” and “a law library for the use of all agencies of State Government, the judiciary, attorneys and citizens of Maine.”
LLRL is located in the North Wing of the Maine State House. Patrons from the 1970s would recognize the same stacks, tables, chairs, carrel desks, bookcases, and newsstand. If they’ve visited LLRL in the past 40 years, they’ll also recognize Beastie, our 27-foot-long philodendron, which Jennifer has tended since 2003. Jennifer has seen the library’s patrons change over the years. Before online legal research platforms were widely available, LLRL was full of private practice and government attorneys paging through huge sets of case reporters, legal citators, and treatises. Today, we serve most of our patrons over email, and our requests from citizens with legal questions have increased.
Every morning during the legislative session, Jennifer picks up bills and amendments from the document room and files them in the library. In Maine, we call our bills “legislative documents”, or LDs. The Legislature has considered over 42,000 of them in the past 37 years. Jennifer also maintains our Reference Data Book, which contains detailed records of frequently requested information, such as dates and length of sessions, acts of apportionment, and the composition of the Legislature. The library’s reference staff fields the broadest range of research requests from legislators and legislative staff. Many involve past actions of the Legislature – proposed bills, legislative histories of acts and statutes, and precedence for procedures on the chamber floors.
Legislative staff are critical to the preservation of the legislative institution. Legislators, parties, and controversial issues come and go, but permanent, nonpartisan staff ensure that the institution continues and improves. This is especially true of a legislative library, which is responsible for collecting, preserving, and providing access to the documents created by the lawmaking process. Jennifer’s service to the Maine Legislature has been an important contribution to this legacy.
Ad Hoc Committee Seeks Volunteers
The LLNE Executive Board has approved the formation of an ad hoc committee to implement the ethical principles approved by the Board and LLNE. The committee’s charge is as follows:
LLNE has approved a Statement of Ethical Principles. Recognizing that principles need actionable tools to become more than an empty statement, this ad hoc committee is charged with developing ways to put LLNE’s ethical principles into practice. The committee shall determine the appropriate format for their work in coordination with the LLNE Executive Board. The committee shall consist of a chair, or co-chairs, and such additional members as the President shall delegate.
Would you like to volunteer for this committee? There are spots available for one or two more members. Please reach out to LLNE President, Anna Lawless-Collins.
Save the Date LLNE/ABLL Meeting
Please mark your calendars for the LLNE Spring Meeting, hosted in conjunction with ABLL!
Update from the Access to Justice Committee
Providing access to legal information is one of the main purposes of the Access to Justice Committee. LLNE Legal Link, which has been in existence for many years, recently received a complete review with updates ongoing. This presents an opportunity to think about what additional information may be useful for public libraries or members of the public.
Legal Link currently provides general information on legal materials and the ins and outs of legal reference. Each state also has a section that lists law libraries open to the public, information about free and low cost legal help, and legislative process information. Legal Link has also provided timely information, such as the Covid eviction protections for each state.
There are many possibilities for additional information that may help members of the public access information. One idea already presented to the committee is providing information about criminal record expungement for each state. Do you have an idea for commonly-sought legal information that we could provide through Legal Link? Contact the chair of the Access to Justice committee at anne.rajotte@uconn.edu.
Featured LLNE Library: Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries
The Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries (TCLLs) are a network of 15 locations, one in each county, except for Suffolk and Dukes Counties. The TCLLs have been helping the bench, bar, and public find the law for free since 1816. We started as county law libraries, each operating independently, until the late 1970’s when we were brought together as a network under the umbrella of the Massachusetts Trial Court. See https://www.mass.gov/doc/200-years-of-free-legal-information-from-county-law-libraries-to-massachusetts-trial-court-law/download for a thorough history of the libraries. Our mighty staff is made up of 14 Head Law Librarians, 13 Law Library Assistants, 3 Circuit Law Librarians, an Electronic Resources Librarian, a Web Content Librarian, and our fearless Law Library Manager. Because the TCLLs are spread across the Commonwealth, we are able to help patrons far and wide, and we provide access to our services in several different ways, including email, chat reference, by phone, by text, and in person. Most recently, the Brockton Law Library started “Ask a Law Librarian” Zoom sessions on Thursday afternoons to help provide legal information to the public. Last fiscal year, the TCLLs assisted an astounding 31,999 patrons. Our web site features the highly popular Law About Pages, which are subject guides on about 200 different topics in the law. Each specially-curated Law About Page includes relevant statutes, cases, web sources, forms, and print materials that our locations hold. Last fiscal year, our Law About Pages received over 2.1 million unique page views.
Our locations offer exciting outreach programs for our communities. The Berkshire Law Library, located in Pittsfield, holds an annual “Cinema of Law” film series, in partnership with the Berkshire Bar Association and the Berkshire Athenaeum, the first four Tuesdays in March every year. See https://www.mass.gov/doc/2022-cinema-of-law-poster/download for last season’s line-up. We reach out to our local bar associations with the latest news. For example, in September 2021, the Hampshire and Franklin Law Libraries presented to the Bar Advocates in Hampshire County on navigating the Hampshire Law Library. We’ve also collaborated with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Social Law Library, and the Massachusetts Court Service Centers on a series of webinars to orient public librarians to our services so that they can better help their patrons who have legal questions. See https://guides.mblc.state.ma.us/legal-reference to access these valuable programs.
Our 200+ years have infused our print collections and buildings with fascinating history. For example, the Essex Law Library is housed in an old, 1806 Baptist Church that was picked up and moved 250 feet to its current location! Check out this video to see part of the move: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP_-Mvly2AI. The Hampshire Law Library holds the most thorough historical collection of the Massachusetts Register within the TCLLs and is located on the first floor of the old, historic courthouse in Northampton.
To learn more about the TCLLs and the services we provide, please see our website https://www.mass.gov/orgs/trial-court-law-libraries.
TCLL staff at the Fall 2022 LLNE meeting from left to right: Gary Smith, Alexandra Bernson, Robert DeFabrizio, Louise Hoagland, Sara McMahon, Barbara Schneider